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 ~: POETRY / BOOK REVIEWS :~  Review: Southern Edge by Phillip A Ellis Barbara Temperton, Southern Edge: Three Stories in Verse (Fremantle : Fremantle Press, 2009) ISBN 978921361418 $24.95 One of poetry's strengths is the creation of narratives in taut, poetic languages, ranging anywhere from the laconic to the elliptical. The three narratives that comprise Southern Edge fall towards the latter of the two extremes, and they demand the reader's attention lest a vital aspect of the narrative be lost. As it happens, all three are linked by themes of interpersonal relationships, usually between men and women, and the ocean. These links, plus the tendency towards an elliptic laconicism, the poems' narrative drive, and, particularly with the latter two, a sense of a documentary style as well, create a strong sense of unity for the book, and it is possible to read it as a sequence of verse novellas rather than as a collection of three longer or mid-length narratives. Yet, despite the unity, each poem has its own focus, and its own centre within its manner of being. "The Lighthouse Keeper's Wife", for example, takes upon a style that is as close to a feminine ecriture as is possible, being fluid and dynamic in its exploration of the thematic ocean. That ocean becomes, almost, a symbol for the fluidity and dynamism of the protagonist's emotions, and her relationships as well. In contrast, "The Gap" takes on a brooding and menacing quality, one of taut tension, and of an unstated and largely implicit contrast in the characterisation of the central couple. Of note is the frequent shifts between first and third person when talking of the young husband, shift which, in another's hand, would simply have failed to work. Their full effect is to help disorientate the reader, and to bring a degree of defamiliarisation towards the character's nature. "Jetty Stories", the final story, works particularly well at both eliding around the death, and at the same time obsessing over it, so that, through the frequent paraphrases from news reports in particular, there is a sense of unstated obsession and of emotion. This and "The Gap" are the strongest of the three poems, partly as a result of the melding together of narrative drive, lyric intensity, and the documentary excerpts, and they are evidence enough of the author's skills as a poet. Although some poets still proclaim the narrative as dead territory for the poem, and no longer valid, Southern Edge is testament, and more than enough testament, to what can be done in the form. Narrative poetry does not need to be simple or simplistic to work, and the complexities of good poetry work well with narrative to produce haunting, powerful poems. Southern Edge deserves to be read more widely than it probably will be; it should, moreover, be proof that poetry is worth reading and worth following, especially contemporary Australian poetry. Southern Edge is available directly from the Fremantle Press website (http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/poetry/1075), and through selected bookstores. |
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| Phillip A Ellis | |
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| Phillip A. Ellis is currently studying English at the University of New England at Armidale. A disab...>> | |
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| More by author: Review: Worldshaker Book Reviews Review: The Umbrella Club Book Reviews Review: Beautiful Waste Book Reviews | |
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| More Book Reviews: Review: Beautiful Waste by Phillip A Ellis At some point, particularly when the poet concerned has died too young, it is time to let go of the poet and to concern oneself with the poetry that has been left.... >> Review: Scar Revision by Phillip A Ellis I have an abiding interest in the poetry of Tracy Ryan. In part it is because it is usually intense through processes of compression, and the use of exact words to convey a laconic yet rich (and enriching) performance. In part, also, because, at its best, it opens up what is both a form of confessio... >> | |